Three 8000ers at a glance: Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu (from l. to r.)

The much-discussed new rules for expeditions in Nepal are in effect. According to Dinesh Bhattarai, General Director of the Ministry of Tourism, the amendment of the mountaineering rules was published today in the government  gazette. “The Department of Tourism can now issue certificates to the Sherpa summiters,” Bhattarai told the newspaper “The Himalayan Times”, referring to the only new rule that in advance had been met with approval by all sides.

500 Sherpas can request certificates

After the spring season 2016, the coveted certificates were for the first time denied to local climbers. The reason given at that time: Within the meaning of the law Climbing Sherpas who fix ropes on the route or support clients up to the summit were no expedition members and therefore did not receive any certificates. It was a slap in the face of the Sherpas, without whose support most climbers of commercial expeditions would never have a chance to scale an eight-thousander. About 500 Sherpas can now request their summit certificates, which mean more to them than just a piece of paper. The certificates are considered as proof of performance, as a kind of self-promotion.

Solos forbidden

From now on, also the controversial regulations are obviously in force: Neither blind climbers nor double amputees will receive permits for all mountains higher than 6,600 meters – these fall under the responsibility of the government . Solo ascents will be forbidden. Every mountaineer is obliged to climb with a guide.

Dhaulagiri

The first summit success this spring on an eight-thousander is reported from Dhaulagiri, the seventh-highest mountain on earth. “We made the summit of Mt Dhaulagiri on Sunday”, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, head of the expedition operator Dreamers Destination, wrote on Facebook, “on the same day, one of the best soloist died, very sad to hear this news today. RIP Ueli (Steck).” According to Mingma, he reached the highest point on 8,167 meters along with two clients and two other Sherpas. For the 31-year-old Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, Dhaulagiri was the ninth eight-thousander he has summited so far.

“Ignorance of the government”

Mount Everest

Meanwhile, several hundred Sherpas gathered in the Base Camp at the feet of Mount Everest to protest against the goverment of Nepal, reports the newspaper “Himalayan Times”.  The Sherpas dunned the government for their Everest summit certificates, which have been withheld since spring 2016. “The government’s ignorance is highly deplorable and intolerable,” the Sherpas stated in a letter which was sent to the Ministry of Tourism. The Director General of the Ministry, Dinesh Bhattarai, said the process to amend the controversial rule would be expedited. In the future, Climbing Sherpas should also be recognized as expedition members and receive summit certificates.

Second-class climbers?

Last year the Ministry had refused for the first time to issue certificates to Climbing Sherpas who had summited Everest or other mountains in Nepal higher than 6500 meters – referring to the “Mountaineering Expedition Regulation” which took effect in 2002. It says that “every member of a successful expedition team” is entitled to get a summit certificate. Within the meaning of the law Climbing Sherpas were no expedition members, the government argued at that time. A slap in the face of the Sherpas.

Mount Everest

No mercy for Everest cheaters. According to the Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times” a three-member investigation commission recommended that the Nepalese government should withdraw the summit certificates of the Indian climbers Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod and forbid the couple to go to Nepal for mountaineering for at least ten years. It is seen as a formality that Tourism Ministery will nod the recommendation through.

Liaison officers not in Base Camp

Real (1,2) and fake (3,4) (© The Himalayan Times)

The commission considered it proven that the Rathods – as reported before – had manipulated the summit pictures of another Indian mountaineer with an image-editing program to prove their own summit success. The two Sherpas who had accompanied the Indian couple during the ascent, are also to be removed from the list of this year’s Everest summiters. In the course of the scandal it had been made public that 15 of 32 Nepalese liaison officers who had been deployed for last spring’s Everest expeditions had not even been at Base Camp which, however, had not prevented them from rubberstamping summit successes. But it’s not really surprising that every second liaison officer collected his pay but stayed absent from the expedition. This has been rather common practice in Nepal for years.

Negligent handling also in China

The lax handling of Everest summit certificates is by the way not a purely Nepalese phenomenon. In the high mountaineering scene the China Tibet Mountaineering Association has also the reputation of certifying summit successes too negligent. Maybe in the not too distant future the idea of ​​German mountaineer and Everest chronicler Billi Bierling will become reality that summit aspirants on the highest mountain on earth – like already now long-distance runners or participants of open cycling races – are equipped with electronic chips. But as is well known, chips can be hacked too.

Update 17 November: The Indian police has suspended Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod because of their Everest cheating. Both had been working for the police in the town of Pune.